The Voicemail
by Aerial312
Summary: Post Ep for Requiem. A three part story, set later that evening. Josh & Donna.
1. Chapter 1

The Voicemail

Josh stared at the White House through the gate. Pennsylvania Avenue was empty but for him and a lone patrol car by the partitions. They hadn't even really begun yet, and he already felt overwhelmed. It had never even crossed his mind that he'd have to do this without Leo. He was supposed to have his mentor, not to guide him through everything, but to be a sounding board when needed, to reassure him. Now he was lost.

He had the knowledge to do this, but no one else seemed to have faith in him, so he'd begun to doubt himself. Sure, they'd won the election, but now what? Three days out, and he already had a President-Elect who was disregarding his advice. There were cabinet positions to fill, a staff to hire…Josh's head was spinning as he turned into Lafayette Park.

And tonight, he was alone. He couldn't believe that Donna wouldn't come over. He had just assumed that she'd stay at his place while the Treasury girl was at hers. She'd spent every night with him since the election. After Leo died, she'd be a huge comfort for him, and she was just there for him, without question. She was his rock. Now, she wouldn't tell C J that she had somewhere else to stay because she was afraid to tell C J about them. Them. Were they a them? Josh wasn't sure. He wasn't sure about much anymore.

Josh fished his cell phone out of his pocket. A new voicemail. Had she changed her mind? He quickly connected and listened. Mom. Calling to express her condolences again. She said she wished she had come up, but she hadn't made up her mind until it was too late to organize travel plans. That would have been nice, Josh thought. He hadn't seen his mom in almost a year. He'd spoken to her on the phone more in the last week than he had in the last six months though. Priorities.

Josh hoped that there was another message after the first one, but all he got was "no new messages". He should just call her. Ask her to come over again. Beg her. No, he couldn't beg. But he could call her to say hi. She'd see right through it, but before he could change his mind he held down the '1' and connected.

Ring. Josh just wanted to hang up, but it was too late now. Ring. His number would appear on her caller ID. Ring. This was a bad idea. Ring. He could give her up for a night. Ring. He'd tried, she wasn't interested…

"Hi, you've reached Donna Moss. I'm unavailable right now, but if you leave your name and number I'll call you back"

"At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording you may hang up or press 1 for more options" Beeeeeep.

Josh stood there frozen. He should have just hung up, but now it was too late. He was recording. Fuck.

"…uh…hi…its me…I'm,…uh,…just calling to say hi…see how you're doing…I…I'm a little lost…I don't know…it sounds stupid…never mind…have fun at C J's…" Josh paused again, unsure how to continue. He should just hang up, he thought, but couldn't. Might as well just go for it, he didn't think that he could sound like any more of an idiot. "I'm walking home now…I miss you…I wish I had found the right words earlier…You should have just told C J…Fuck, I don't care if C J knows…I guess…No, I don't care…she can know…its not like this is just going to go away…right?... God, I'm bad at this…You know, I was just looking at the White House…and I thought…God, how are we going to do this without him?...I don't know if I can do this…you're the only one…who I could tell that to…I'm rambling…I'll let you go now…enjoy C J's…" Josh went to click 'end' and paused. "I really wish you were here…I don't know what it is…I'm all over the fucking place…you just ground me…I kind of need that tonight…I need you…yeah, I guess I do…I ne—"

Her voicemail cut him off. Josh snapped his phone shut, and continued walking.


	2. Chapter 2

The Voicemail

Chapter 2

"Pass the wine," C J commanded from the armchair. "We need to get drunk."

Donna smiled and slid the bottle across the coffee table. Her own glass was still half full. C J's was empty. C J grabbed the bottle and poured herself another glass.

"To Leo!" she thrust the glass into the air, a little too fast and ended up with red wine dripping down her arm. "Oops."

"Where are the paper towels?"

"On top of the fridge."

Donna got up and scurried to the kitchen, returning with the roll of paper towels. "Here."

C J quickly mopped up the wine from her arm, and the table, before it ended up all over the rug.

"Maybe I've had more to drink tonight than I realized."

Donna laughed. C J picked up her glass again. "Let's try this again. To new beginnings!"

"Yeah…" Donna raised her glass halfway.

"What's got you?"

"Oh…nothing. I'm just tired."

"So, have you been offered anything yet?"

Donna shook her head.

"Well, its only been 3 days. That'll come. Are you concerned?"

"Not really. Charlie thought I should be, but I reminded him of the three days thing."

"He tends to want answers to these things right away. He was pushing me to start looking through the pile of job offers already too."

"He means well. I'm not worried."

"Where do you think you'll end up?"

"Well…"

"Honestly."

"I have a meeting with Mrs. Santos on Monday."

"You want to work for the First Lady? I would have thought you'd want to be in the West Wing"

"Well, I don't know if its my first choice, but I think it's a good place for me."

"How so?"

"Well, Helen and I had a very good rapport during the campaign."

"So you're aiming for her Chief of Staff?"

"I think that's what we'll be discussing on Monday, yes."

"That would be a great job for you."

"You really think so?"

"I'm just surprised. But yes, I think that you've grown so much, and this will let you have a more active part in policy than anything you'd end up with in the West Wing."

"Yeah…"

"Sounds like you haven't totally convinced yourself."

"I haven't," Donna admitted, gulping down the rest of her wine, and pouring another glass. C J watched her with interest.

"What's got you stuck?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't. I have no idea what I'll be offered in the West Wing…"

"What do you think?"

"What do you think I'll get? I don't think I'd be ready for press secretary. I don't have anywhere near the amount of experience you had."

"There's always deputy press secretary, or somewhere in the press office at least."

"Yeah."

"Those aren't so bad. Deputy press secretary would be a great job for you. But do you want to get out of press?"

"Well, most of my experience is not in press…I like it… but I don't know. Press is about all I could do in the West Wing. I really don't have much experience taking charge of anything…"

"I disagree."

"What have I taken charge of?"

"Josh."

"I never took charge of Josh."

"Yes, you did. His office would have fallen apart without you."

"Yeah, well, that's completely different. You're the one who said that I needed to think about my own career, and—"

"I'm just saying. You're incredibly organized, and on top of things, and have nine years of experience working for a very difficult person, and you've grown by leaps and bounds since you left the White House. I think you're ready for more than you realize."

Donna looked down into her wine.

"Have you and Josh talked about this?"

Donna shook her head.

"Donna, he sees how far you've come. He does."

"I know."

"What's wrong then? Is Josh the problem? Is he the reason why you're considering the First Lady chief of staff?"

Donna didn't answer.

"Have you two been having more 'odd moments'?"

Donna looked up at C J.

"Donna?"

"I guess."

"I had a feeling something was up when you asked me to stay here. I guess I figured that you'd just stay with him. You've stayed there often enough in the past. I was surprised, is all."

"I just asked you first. Josh was kind of surprised too. I think he assumed I'd stay with him too."

"Really? He assumed? What's been going on that he would assu—"

"Nothing," Donna answered, a little too quickly. "You assumed too."

"Donna, I'm not trying to push, but its obviously bothering you."

"It's hard to tell what's going on since Leo died."

"But things have changed?"

"Yeah."

"For the better?"

"I think so. I guess I just can't tell if it means anything or its just comfort for now…"

"Are you and Josh finally sleeping together?

"Finally? What do you mean by finally?"

"Donna."

"Yes."

C J smiled. "It only took you two nine years to figure it out. That's what I mean by finally."

"I wouldn't say we've quite figured it out yet."

"How long has this been going on? Was this the 'odd moment' you told me about a few weeks ago?"

"No. That…that was the first time we kissed. I'd come into his room with really good poll results, and he kissed me in celebration. Then we pulled back for a moment, and then he _really_ kissed me."

"Which was a good thing?"

"I thought so. It was weird though. That's the place we've always danced around."

"When did the sex start?"

"C J!"

"Well?"

Donna laid back on the couch, and sighed. Her cell phone fell out of her pocket. It was blinking. "It was the night before the election."

"So this is very recent."

"Yeah."

"And you'd only slept together once before Leo died and it got even more complicated."

"Twice, but, yes—"

"Twice? The night before the election and?"

"The middle of the afternoon on election day."

C J grinned. "Did it stop after that? Were those the only two times?"

"No, I've pretty much spent every night with him since."

"Every night? But how you've been talking it got weirder at some point"

"Election night, after Leo died, he was a mess, and I just held him, but every other time its been just sex."

"So that's why you didn't assume you were staying with him?"

"Yeah. I thought he'd be weird about it. Turns out he wanted me to."

"He did? Did you want to?"

"I'd already asked you. I didn't know how to explain why I'd changed my mind."

"Donna, you should have gone there."

"Trying to get rid of me?"

"Not exactly."

"What exactly?"

"Well, you've shared, so I'll share. I could have gotten laid tonight too."

"Danny?"

"Are we that obvious?"

"Yes. But I'm not one to talk about not being obvious."

C J laughed. "Oh well, girls night it is. This has been a very interesting discussion. Oh! Your phone is blinking."

"Oh. That's weird, it didn't ring."

"My apartment gets bad reception."

Donna clicked to listen to her voicemail.

_"…uh…hi…its me…I'm,…uh,…just calling to say hi…see how you're doing…I…I'm a little lost…I don't know…it sounds stupid…never mind…have fun at C J's…"_

"Is it Josh?"

Donna nodded.

_"I'm walking home now…I miss you…I wish I had found the right words earlier…You should have just told C J…Fuck, I don't care if C J knows…I guess…No, I don't care…she can know…its not like this is just going to go away…right?... God, I'm bad at this…"_

"Booty call?"

Donna shook her head. "He's a mess"

_You know, I was just looking at the White House…and I thought…God, how are we going to do this without him?...I don't know if I can do this…you're the only one…who I could tell that to…I'm rambling…_

"He's rambling"

_I'll let you go now…enjoy C J's…"_

"He told me to have fun here."

"That's nice of him."

_"I really wish you were here…I don't know what it is…I'm all over the fucking place…you just ground me…"_

"Awww…"

"What?"

"Shh…"

_"I kind of need that tonight…I need you…yeah, I guess I do…I ne—" _

"Oh!" Donna's eyes were tearing up

"What's wrong?"

"He got cut off mid-sentence."

"What did he want?"

"Me. He wants me. He said he…needs…me. I…I'm going to go, C J, I need to…" Donna stood up and put on her coat.

"Go then!"

"I'm sorry I ruined your night."

"The night is young."

"That it is. Thank you C J."

"Follow your intuition about the job. Working for the First Lady would be a great place for you."

Donna smiled, and walked to the door. C J picked up her phone to call Danny.


	3. Chapter 3

The Voicemail

Chapter 3

Knock, knock, knock. Donna stood in the hallway outside Josh's door. Knock, knock, knock. Why wasn't he coming to the door? Was he not home yet? Knock, knock, knock. She should have called him back before just coming over. Knock, knock, knock. Fuck this, she had a key, as he double checked earlier. She felt funny using it under these circumstances. It had been long time since she'd let herself into Josh's apartment.

Donna pulled her keys out of her pocket and opened the door. It was pretty dark. She locked the door behind her, and looked around, acclimating her eyes to the darkness. Josh was sitting on the sofa staring off into space. He still had his coat on. He hadn't noticed her presence. She sat beside him, and flicked on the lamp on the side table. He looked up with a start.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Josh looked around, confused. "I sat down when I got in…"

"And you got lost in thought?"

"Lost, somewhere…my mind was kind of blank."

"A PTSD moment?"

Josh nodded. "I have no idea how long I've been sitting here."

"You've still got your coat on."

Josh looked down at himself. "Yeah…"

Donna stood up, and took him by the hands, pulling him to his feet. "Come on." She gently pulled his coat from his arms, and hung it on the coat tree by the door.

"You got my message?" he asked, as they crossed into his room.

"Yeah."

"I sounded like an idiot."

"You got your point across."

"It cut me off."

Donna smiled. "You said what you needed to say."

"What did you tell C J?"

"The truth."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, before you suggested it in your message, too...though after she forced it out of me"

"What did she say?"

"She was happy. And especially happy that she could go hook up with Danny, which I'd apparently interrupted."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Is that new? Her and Danny?"

"About as new as us. They've had a long, drawn out, uh, courtship, but acting on it is new."

"Right. Well, good for her."

They were silent for a moment, and Josh pulled her towards him and held her tightly to him.

"In my message…I was rambling…I didn't know what I was saying…it just sort of came out. I don't know how to navigate this…but I need you right now. That's what I was saying when I got cut off."

"I heard it."

"You did. Good."

"You said it a few times."

"I meant it."

Donna began to unbutton his shirt.

"Eventually we'll figure this out for real."

"Once we have time to breathe."

"Mmmm…" Donna had begun to kiss the side of his neck. She ran her fingernails gently up and down his back. He shivered and began to undo his pants.

"I'd didn't call you up again just for sex."

"Are you saying you don't want any?" Donna teased, as she pulled her dress over her head.

"No, I'm definitely not saying that." Josh's hands moved quickly to remove her bra. "I'm just saying that this…isn't…" Josh was momentarily distracted by Donna leaning over to remove her pantyhose.

"This isn't…what?" Donna asked coyly, as she clamored onto his bed.

Josh laughed. "I was going to say this wasn't a booty call, but that's what it is rapidly becoming."

"Well?" Donna lay on her back and propped herself up on her elbows, looking up at him.

Josh grinned, and crawled up beside her.

"I made you smile."

"You have that power."

"And we've barely even started…" Donna traced a finger down his chest.

"You've always been able to make me smile," Josh managed, as Donna crawled on top of him. "Even…with your…clothes…on."

"Oh, I'll make you smile some more."

Josh moaned as Donna slid up his body. "Please do."

"Shut up, and kiss me," Donna commanded, covering his mouth with her own.

Their pace quickened, becoming fast and furious, and soon all remaining clothing was gone.

"Do you have any--?"

"In the top drawer."

Donna rolled over and opened the said drawer, procuring a little foil package. She quickly opened it, and went to put it on him.

"That's upside down."

"No, its not."

"It is!" Josh laughed.

"Fine! You do it."

Josh took it, and it was on in a flash, and just as quickly he was on top of Donna. He started out slowly, but Donna was encouraging a fast pace, so he obliged, and it was over faster than he would have liked.

"Sorry," Josh apologized, as he rolled off of her. "That wasn't very long." Josh lay back on the pillow.

Donna turned and smiled at him, "That was fine." She lay her head on his chest. "You needed that."

"But you did too…"

"Not as much as you did."

"Thank you, I guess. You always know what I need."

Donna looked up at him, resting her chin on his chest. "I try."

"I still wish, I had—"

"Shhh…"

"I can do better."

"Josh, I know you can. You've shown me several other times. And you'll show me again, I have no doubt."

Josh kissed her forehead.

"So rest up. This was just Round 1," she grinned.

Josh smiled broadly, dimples and all, and pulled her close to him. He was glad he'd made the call, and hadn't hung up on her voicemail.

FIN


End file.
